Our Baby Class Reunion

We were part of a baby prenatal class. Instead of having monthly 1-on-1s with the doctor we were in this class. Every month we met and had a guest speaker and a visiting doctor to answer questions. It was a great time of learning and sharing and we really became close to the other 5 couples. We met after everyone had delivered for a reunion and discussion of our birth experience. We've decided to have another reunion in a year to see how everyone is doing and to see how much our little ones have grown.

Here is our class: (L to R) Camille & Ted with baby Cassidy, Chris and Stacy with baby Connor, me and Shawn (Bryan wasn't able to attend due to work), and Valerie and a friend with baby Aija. There were two other couples that couldn't make it to the reunion.

Here are the moms and babies with Becky, one of our nurses. She was wonderful!

Introducing our little additions. It was so fun to meet the babies that had kicked us, kept us up at night and caused the morning sickness! :)

Shawn's Blessing

Baby Shawn was honored at church today. Our church has a tradition of blessing the new babies and their families. They also commit to helping to guide the child as they grow older. It was such a neat experience and we were so excited for it to finally be our turn.
Here are the three of us getting ready to go up in stage.
Here Tasha is explaining the new procedure for the blessings (they just started a new tradition and we were the first to go through it). We are on stage with our preacher, Reg Cox, and one of our Elders, Gary Southern.
They then said a prayer for Shawn. It was funny (hence why everyone is smiling) because during the prayer Gary said that they were raising hands before God and Shawn raised both his hands. I was the only one not aware of this until afterwards. I guess I will just have to watch the video.
They also presented Shawn with a beautiful blanket and Bryan and I with a year subscription to Focus on the Child (part of the Focus on the Family website). The verse on the blanket says: (Matthew 19:14) "But Jesus said, 'Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'"

Foster Family mini-reunion

We had a Bar-B-Que at my uncle Rick's house to celebrate my grandfather's 75th birthday. It was a great time of celebration with a lot of family present. It was a lot of fun to see two of my cousins who have had babies this year--altogether we will have 5 new babies born on my mom's side of the family this year.
Here are 3 of the 5 new additions. (L to R) Jacquie with Edison (born the first week in August), Becky with Emily (born in March), me with Shawn, and Jennifer with her daughter Fenix.

It was also an opportunity for us to get a 4-generation picture. This is my grandfather (Gerald), my mother (Susan), me, and baby Shawn. There is a 75 year age difference here.

Our trip to the Zoo

My good friend Stephanie and her daughter Bella (15 mos), my mom and I met at the Zoo today. We had such a great time. The weather was beautiful and I really enjoyed walking around the big open park. It was also good to get lots of sage advice from Stephanie.

Bella is an absolute Hoot. It was so much fun to see Bella watching the animals. She loved the Zebras.

She also was very interested in Shawn. She kept checking on him in his stroller. Here she is looking to see what was under Shawn's blanket (his toes).

Here areShawn and I at the zoo. He slept through most of the park, except for during lunch time. He knew right when to wake up! :)

Our little furry kids

We have two wonderful, curious kids. Here are our kitties--Domino (front) and Mia (back). They are so much fun and have such great personalities.

Mia has been especially fun since Shawn arrived. She loves Shawn and wants to be anywhere that he is. As you can see in this picture, she loves to sleep near him. I was laying on the couch with Shawn sleeping on my chest, and Mia decided to crawl up and sleep with Shawn, too. She is very protective of him.

Aunty Chanty's visit

We have been so blessed to have family visit in these first few weeks. First we had Bryan's family for a week, and then my sister came for 10 days. It was Chantell's first trip to Denver in a long time, so we tried to show her the sights. We went bowling one day. We also went to the Red Rocks amphitheater.
Here we are bowling. My mom was also there but she is taking the picture.

Here is my family (minus my 2 brothers) at Red Rocks. They have great concerts here and it has an amazing view of the city.
This is a great picture. I think this one is kind of artsy.

Some of Shawn's favorite people!

Here are some of Shawn's very favorite people in the whole world.

Of course I love my Dad! :)

Here is my Nana Pottberg. She was so nervous about my surprise arrival. She sat in the waiting room and was so relieved when one of the nurses told her I had arrived safely.

Here I am with my Papa Pottberg. He likes to call me the mini-miner. He loves when I smile at him.

This is my Grandma Thompson. She was so excited to get to meet me the night I was born. She was so excited she cried!

My Grandpa Thompson had a smile on his face the entire time he was in Denver visiting me!

My Aunt Cherie loves me so much. She even bought me this new outfit! :)

Here I am with my "Aunty Chanty". She can't wait to sew me some cool new duds.

Thanks to everyone!

Friends and Family,
I wanted to take a moment to say thanks for all of the sweet cards and e-mails we have received. Thanks also for all of the visits and requests to visit. We would love to have you all come over and meet the new addition to our family.

Pictures from the hospital

Here are some more pictures from the hospital.

This is when we arrived. I was tired (it was 5:30 in the morning) and having contractions...which should explain my efforts at smiling.

This is when we finally were admitted. I was SO relieved to be staying and excited that it was finally happening.

Here is Shawn right after birth. He was so alert, the nurses were just amazed.

Here we are in the recovery room. I was so numb from the pain medication, they wouldn't let me hold the baby unless I was supervised! :) Bryan was so overwhelmed with emotions. He is such a great Dad already!
Here are some of our great nurses. This was taken in my room after I was allowed to be moved. My family thinks this picture is hilarious because I am so drugged I looked like I am high! :)

Here I am admiring my new little one when I was finally able to look him over. WOW, he is amazing. God is awesome!!

Visit from Nanna and Papa, and Aunt Cherie

We were so blessed to get a visit from Bryan's parents and sister the night Shawn was born (good planning Nanna!!). We had such a great time with them and were very blessed by all of their help. Kathy and Cherie cooked and cleaned, and even bought Shawn some clothes that fit him!! Thanks for everything! :)

Bryan had a great time taking Gordon and Cherie (and my Dad) into the Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park. Bryan was so excited to show them the beauty of Colorado.

We were all so sad to see them leave. But we eagerly await their next trip to Colorado. Here we all are at the airport.

My first bath at home

Here is my Mom getting me ready for my first bath at home. I was not quite sure about getting rubbed down. But I was very brave and did not even cry.